The irony, I realize, is that it was this feeling, this ability to share my secrets, that made my friendship with Lawrence so important to me. I had thought that this strange feeling of kinship was something I could only have with Lawrence.
Orion’s done nothing yet to fix the situation, and yet I already feel better. Not completely; I never will completely, but as I close my eyes and take in a shuddering breath I realize that I had never before named my grief.
I had spent the last seven years mourning, and hadn’t been able to accept that fact. Accept my pain. Acknowledge it aloud.
Until now.
Orion lets go of my face, and I want him to return. I want him to kiss me and try to make it better. Not because I think he can, but because I need the assurance that somebody, anybody wants to try.
But he doesn’t return. Instead, he backs away from me as if I’m the wolf, as if I’m the monster.
My heart hits the floor of my stomach, hard. And the tears that seemed so far away only a minute ago suddenly teem behind my eyes. What was I thinking? It was because my face was plastered on poster after poster that Orion was kept in captivity for years. It was because of my parents that hundreds if not thousands of his kind were imprisoned. And I almost shot him to save Lawrence.
Now that he knows who I really am, why would he ever want to do anything to help me again?
It’s too late.
I fight down a choked sob. “I’m sorry.”
When Orion finally speaks again, it’s not with horror or hatred or empathy or sorrow, but something else: disbelief. “You can’t be Artemis Williams.”
“I am,” I say. “I’m so sorry, Orion. I am.”
“No,” he says with utter, heartbreaking finality. “You aren’t. Because Artemis Williams is dead. She’s been dead for five years.”
***
Artemis and Orion’s story will continue in the third installment of the Moonfate serial, Bloodbound, due out on November 31st. To read it for free the moment it comes out, leave a review of Huntbound, and then sign up for my newsletter here. Just make sure to link to your review in the sign-up field.
A lot of people have read Huntbound: my beta-readers, my author friends, my editor, strangers on the street I kidnapped, your grandmother, former US president Bill Clinton — okay, okay. Some of those people have read Huntbound, but none of their opinions are as important to me as yours.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter Four Chapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter Sixteen
(Untitled)
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
(Untitled)
(Untitled)
Chapter Five
(Untitled)
Chapter Six
(Untitled)
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
(Untitled)
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
(Untitled)
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen